Ever wonder how those barbecue joints make such delicious barbecued brisket and ribs? If you’re trying to make it at home by slathering your meat with barbecue sauce it’s not going to be the same. Yes sauce matters, but the secret’s in the rub; the BBQ beef rub!

Of course you can buy all sorts of meat rubs from the supermarket, some are even pretty good. But if you want something outstanding nothing beats homemade. Oh and if you you’ve been rubbing dry spices on your meats try this little trick. Stir 2 tablespoons of rub into a tablespoon of olive oil then rub it on your meat. It makes a world of difference!

With summer in full swing it’s time to step up your grilling with this yummy BBQ Beef Rub! Use it on brisket, ribs, or even steaks!

Couple more tips before I give you my BBQ Beef Rub recipe.

Rub the olive oil mixture onto your meat and let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Remove seasoned meat from fridge and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes before grilling this brings meat temperature down to room temperature.

Grill covered until it almost reaches desired “doneness” then brush on BBQ Sauce. Grill until it’s almost to your desired doneness and place in covered pot. You see even if you remove the meat from the grill or oven the meat continues to cook for about 5 minutes. That’s why you want to remove the meat from the grill BEFORE it reaches the doneness you want. If you don’t remove the meat until it reaches the doneness you want you end up with over cooked dry meat.

Let meat rest in pot for 5 minutes before serving. The resting period seals in the juices and allows the meat to reach the desired doneness.

Having said that scroll down for my BBQ Beef Rub recipe! Happy Grilling!

I have been in search of the perfect Chicken Marsala for years. I think one of the best ones I’ve had was at the Trevi Italian Restaurant in the Forum Shops in Las Vegas. I’ve yet to find something similar and believe me I’ve tried it at many different restaurants.

Since I can’t exactly fly off to Vegas every time I’ve a yen for Chicken Marsala I did the next best thing. I wend in search of the best Chicken Marsala recipe I could find. I’ve actually found several that were pretty good, but with a bit of tweaking here and there I was able to come up with this delicious recipe which everyone in my family loves. In fact it’s good enough to serve company which is what I did when my daughter’s in-laws came to visit. They loved it too!

First of all a little background on Chicken Marsala. I know it’s a classic Italian dish offered at many chain Italian restaurants like Magiano’s, Carabba’s, and Olive Garden. Like I said everyone seems to have their own version of this dish! But if you go to a local restaurant in Italy and asked for Chicken Marsala I’m pretty sure they won’t know what that is. I can’t recall seeing this dish at any of the restaurants in Italy, sort of like asking for Fettucine Alfedo, they don’t have that there!

Chicken Marsala is actually an Italian-American dish that is more than likely a variation of the traditional Italian Scaloppina dishes of which there are many versions in Italy. Chicken Marsala dates back from the 19th. Century and originated with English families who lived in Italy where Marsala wine is produced.

The dish is composed of thin slices of chicken breasts that are lightly floured and sauteed in a pan. It is then covered with a sauce made from a Marsala wine reduction. Some recipes call for the addition of mushrooms, herbs, and tomatoes. Really the variations are many, but I prefer the simplest variation with just mushrooms so that I can savor the lovely Marsala sauce.

When I make it at home I prefer to serve it with a simple garlic mashed potato side dish, but you can also serve it with a side of Poor Man’s pasta; a simple yet tasty pasta dish.

Gyros seem to be getting trendy, even the fast food chains are putting them on their menus. Makes sense I guess since Gyro (pronounced YEE-roh) can be considered fast food meaning you can grab a sandwich and eat it on the go. Gyro meat can be either beef, pork, chicken, lamb, or a combination of these meats. The meat is usually ground up and cooked on a vertical spit then thin slices are shaved off as needed to make plates or sandwiches. Having grown up in New York City gyros have always been a familiar food, I remember seeing the big hunks of meat rotating behind a window at the corner deli or diner. Anyway trendy or not we love Gyros, specially beef gyros!

We always grab a gyro or two when we’re in Greece and sometimes in NYC, I mean it’s not like we’re going to set up a huge vertical spit and roast meat for hours. That’s why the Instant Pot is a great addition to my kitchen! I can make Beef Gyros anytime I have a yen for them. The beef gyros made in my Instant Pot tastes pretty authentic and can be made in about half an hour! Doesn’t beat a trip to Athens or Santorini, but it hits the spot!

The Beef Gyros I make in the Instant Pot are tender, juicy, and tasty; in short perfect! We slather the pita with homemade Tzatziki, a creamy cucumber yogurt sauce, then fill it with meat and veggies, delicious!

Here’s the recipe for Instant Pot Beef Gyros and Tzatziki Sauce, hope you love it as much as we do!

Directions:

Place all the ingredients except the Pita, Lettuce, and Tomato in the Instant Pot

Cover and make sure the valve is in the “Sealing” position

Turn pot on to Manual – high pressure

Set timer to 30 minutes

Once timer goes off allow the pot to sit for 15 minutes. Then switch the valve to “venting” and allow the pot to depressurize.

Remove cover and stir.

While you’re waiting for the meet to cook make your Tzatziki Sauce and prepare your veggies

Place shredded lettuce, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions on a dish and sprikle with Apple Cider Vinegar then set aside until ready to use

Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Cup Finely chopped cucumbers – remove seeds before chopping

1 Cup plain whole milk yogurt

2 Tbs Fresh Dill chopped

1 Tsp Garlic finely minced

1/4 Tsp Salt

Directions:

Take the cucumbers and squeeze out the liquid. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can.

Place cucumber in bowl and add in rest of the ingredients and mix very well.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Sandwich assembly:

Cover pita bread with a damp paper towel and warm in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds

Place one pita bread flat on a piece of aluminum foil

Spread bread with Tzatziki Sauce

Place a layer of shredded lettuce over sauce

Remove desired amount of meat from pot and drain liquid then place over lettuce

Add cucumber, onion, and tomato slices on top then add more tzatziki sauce if desired

Roll sandwich and foil, use the foil to hold the sandwich together. Peel off foil as you eat.

You can also make a plate or bowl instead of a sandwich. Any left over tzatziki can be used a dip, just place in a dish or bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Dip pita chips in the sauce for a great snack or appetizer!

Place all the ingredients except the Pita, Lettuce, and Tomato in the Instant Pot

Cover and make sure the valve is in the "Sealing" position

Turn pot on to Manual - high pressure Set timer to 30 minutes

Once timer goes off allow the pot to sit for 15 minutes. Then switch the valve to "venting" and allow the pot to depressurize.

Remove cover and stir.

While you're waiting for the meet to cook make your Tzatziki Sauce and prepare your veggies

Place shredded lettuce, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions on a dish and sprikle with Apple Cider Vinegar then set aside until ready to use

Tzatziki Sauce

Take the cucumbers and squeeze out the liquid. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can.

Place cucumber in bowl and add in rest of the ingredients and mix very well.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Assembly

Cover pita bread with a damp paper towel and warm in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds
Place one pita bread flat on a piece of aluminum foil
Spread bread with Tzatziki Sauce
Place a layer of shredded lettuce over sauce
Remove desired amount of meat from pot and drain liquid then place over lettuce
Add cucumber, onion, and tomato slices on top then add more tzatziki sauce if desired
Roll sandwich and foil, use the foil to hold the sandwich together. Peel off foil as you eat.

I’ve recently jumped on to the Instant Pot bandwagon and my life has never been the same! Instant Pots are basically crockpots on steroids, at least that’s how I’d describe them. The can do just about everything a crockpot can do only they do it faster! Because Instant Pot uses pressure to cook food instead of constant slow heat like a crockpot meals can be made not only faster but better tasting because they get tender but don’t get mushy like veggies do when cooked in a crockpot. That’s why making this Instant Pot Shredded Beef is the perfect way to make fillings for tacos, chimichangas, burritos, and more.

Today I’m going to share with you my recipe for Instant Pot Shredded Beef Flautas. Actually it’s basic shredded beef with Mexican spices which I’m using to fill flour tortillas which I then deep fry. That’s what a Flauta is a rolled and fried four tortilla, some folks call them taquitos, but what ever you call them they’re yummy just the same.

You can use this Instant Pot Shredded Beef to fill just about anything you need to fill with shredded beef; like burritos, chimichangas, enchaladas, empanadas, and more.

I’ve always used skirt or flank steaks to make shredded beef, they turn out pretty tender making them pretty easy to shred. But once I started making this Instant Pot Shredded Beef the shredding is even easier, the meat literally just falls apart!

I’m sure you’ll love this recipe so make plenty. I usually freeze extras so that I can use them later for burritos, chimichangas or whatever. If you’re going to freeze it be sure you use freeze safe containers and label them. Because it’s shredded the beef will last in the freezer for about a month so be sure you use it soon!

One of my favorite dishes is Chicken Marsala. I’ve tried many different recipes in my quest for the perfect one; tweaking each one until it was just right.

Here is the recipe I use and my family loves it. The sauce in this version is thicker and creamier than other versions due to the heavy cream and corn starch. If you want a thinner sauce please read the notes at the end to see what ingredients can be omitted or substituted.

This recipe is very easy to make and should be served soon after cooking. Left overs can be refrigerated, in fact it tastes even better the next day!

I serve Chicken Marsala with garlic mashed potatoes or my cousin’s “poor man’s pasta” the recipe for that is at the bottom of this post.

* For thinner sauce OMIT heavy cream and corn starch in step 4. Add salt and set aside. Cook chicken as directed. In step 9 BEFORE you sprinkle with parsley stir in 2 more tbls. butter, stir until butter melts. Sprinkle with parsley.

Toss chicken tenders in flour; shake off excess; fry in olive oil/butter until cooked thru and is golden brown.

Pour Marsala sauce over chicken. Add cherry tomatoes. Simmer until tomatoes are soft, but not mushy.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Poor Man's Pasta

Cook pasta as directed on box.

Drain pasta.

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat.

Add cooked pasta. Toss in butter until pasta is covered.

Add parmesan cheese. Toss pasta until cheese is evenly distributed.

Serve hot.

Recipe Notes

For thinner sauce OMIT heavy cream and corn starch in step 4. Add salt and set aside. Cook chicken as directed. In step 9 BEFORE you sprinkle with parsley stir in 2 more tbls. butter, stir until butter melts. Sprinkle with parsley.